1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a child resistant closure for use with a container, and the combination of such a closure and container and, more particularly, to such a closure and combination where the closure includes springs to urge the closure into a child-resistant configuration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Providing child-resistant closures for medicine containers is a longstanding concern in the field of dispensing medicine and other substances which may be generally helpful, but also must not fall into the hands of small children. People who take medication often live in households with small children, or have small children visit, and so are fearful of having medication containers which can be readily opened by children.
There have been many attempts over the years to provide child-resistant medicine containers, but finding the most effective type of child resistant closure is difficult.
One attempt is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,078, which discloses a child-resistant closure and container combination in which the container has a series of sloped surfaces on an exterior thereof, each with a recess therein, and the closure has a plurality of tabs which are configured to mate with the recesses. However, in this combination, the tabs are very difficult to disengage from the recesses and, while making the combination child-resistant, it becomes nearly adult-resistant as well, at least for elderly or otherwise frail or impaired adults who might not be able to manage opening the container.
Accessing medicine within a container cannot be made too difficult, because many people who need medicine are elderly or frail (e.g., with arthritis, etc.), and so cannot use closures that require a great deal of strength to open. There must be a tradeoff, therefore, in providing ease of access of container contents to the patient while restricting access to children. This can prove to be an elusive balance, especially given the economics of the marketplace.
A subsequent attempt to strike that balance may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,021,477, which discloses a child-resistant closure and container package in which the closure is attached to the container by a plurality of radially inwardly extending spring elements. The spring elements depend from the underside of the top of the closure and then curve around a ledge on the container to grip the container in a radial direction. This configuration, while easier to open than the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,078 described above, is nonetheless difficult to manufacture.
Those in the art continuously seek improved mechanisms for closures which are child-resistant but which can nonetheless be opened easily by patients who may be elderly, frail or otherwise find it difficult to open medicine containers and yet likewise easy and inexpensive to manufacture.